Plenty of Londoners don’t drive to work. They take the Tube or cycle, then keep a second car purely for weekends away, track days or that summer run down to the coast. The trouble is, owning a car you barely use in a city like London comes with its own set of headaches.
The Real Cost of Keeping a Car You Rarely Drive
A weekend car sounds like a luxury, and in some ways it is. But the costs don’t pause just because the car sits still for five days a week. You’re still paying for insurance, tax and, in most boroughs, the privilege of parking it on the street.
Parking and Emissions
Parking permits are where it stings most. Costs swing wildly depending on where you live, and an emissions-based permit for a thirsty weekend toy can run into hundreds of pounds a year. In the top emission bands, boroughs like Tower Hamlets charge close to £500 for a single annual permit, and a second permit at the same address usually adds another surcharge on top. Once you factor that in, you’ll quickly see why the maths starts to look odd for a car you drive twice a month.
Statutory Off Road Notification (SORN)
If the car genuinely sits unused for long stretches, it’s worth knowing about SORN. A Statutory Off Road Notification lets you stop paying tax while the car’s off the public road, and you’re no longer legally required to insure it either, which can save you a fair bit.
Plenty of owners still keep laid-up cover for theft or fire, but that’s your call. The catch is you can’t keep it on the street while it’s SORN’d. It has to be on private land, like a driveway or a storage facility, and that includes private roads the public can still drive down.
Where Do You Actually Keep It?
This is the question that trips up most people. London driveways are rare and garages even rarer. Renting a lock-up in the city is possible, but you’ll often pay a premium for a damp, draughty space with no security to speak of. For a car you care about, that’s far from ideal.
Why Out-of-City Storage Often Makes More Sense
Once you tot up permits, the risk of street parking and the lack of secure space, keeping the car outside London starts to look sensible. Commuter-belt counties are well placed for this. Essex in particular sits on both the M11 and the eastern stretch of the M25, so from most of north and east London you can reach a facility there in around an hour, traffic permitting. The M25 is one of the busiest roads in the country, mind, so it pays to plan your run for a quieter time of day.
Specialist facilities go well beyond a basic lock-up. Many control humidity to stop rust, run CCTV around the clock and keep cars insured under a trade policy while they’re stored. Some of the best car storage in Essex also offer collection and delivery, so your car turns up when you want it and goes back when you’re done. That solves the awkward bit of getting out to the storage site without your car in the first place.
For a weekend driver, this setup works neatly. You SORN the car, store it somewhere secure and dry, then arrange to have it ready for the weekends you actually plan to use it.
Insurance and Admin You Shouldn’t Skip
Insurance for a low-mileage second car is often cheaper than people expect, since insurers like cars that spend most of their time tucked away. Look for a policy with a low annual mileage limit and ask about laid-up cover for the months you won’t be driving at all.
Keep on top of the small stuff too. While a SORN car needs no MOT sitting off the road, you’ll need a valid MOT, plus tax and insurance back in place, before you drive it again. The one exception is a pre-booked MOT test, which you can drive to without tax, though you must still be insured for the trip. A battery left sitting for weeks will also flatten itself. A good storage facility will start the car periodically and keep an eye on tyres and fluids, which saves you a nasty surprise when spring comes around.
A Weekend Toy Needs a Weekday Plan
A weekend car in London can be a joy, as long as you’re honest about the running costs and where you’ll keep it. Sort the parking question early, look into SORN if the car sits idle, and don’t write off out-of-city storage just because it sounds like more effort. Done right, it costs less and saves your pride and joy from a winter on the kerb.
